Armenian Prime Minister Asks U.S. to Keep Issue of Armenian Prisoners in Baku in Focus

YEREVAN, November 20. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters today that during his meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Alison Hooker in Yerevan, he asked her to keep the issue of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan in the spotlight.

"During my recent meeting with the US Deputy Secretary of State in Yerevan, I raised this issue. I noted that President Trump had spoken out on this issue, including publicly, and has stated his commitment to addressing it," Pashinyan said at a pres briefing.

He noted that he briefed Hooker on the ongoing bilateral work on this issue and asked her to provide information on the US efforts in this direction, and also asked her to keep this issue in the spotlight," Pashinyan said.

When the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia during the Azerbaijani offensive in September 2023, several high-ranking then- and former government officials were detained and charged with charges widely known to be trumped-up, including terrorism.

Among those detained and held captive are former Nagorno-Karabakh presidents Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, then-Speaker of Parliament Davit Ishkhanyan, former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan, former Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan, and former state minister, entrepreneur, and co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Ruben Vardanyan.

Azerbaijan has officially acknowledged that it is detaining only 33 Armenian prisoners of war and civilians; however, Armenian human rights advocates assert that there are an additional 80 Armenian detainees.-0-